


The Visitor

by KuroiSei



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel)
Genre: Christmas Eve, I owe you one so if you want me to write another fic I will, M/M, Other, as fluffy as sly can get, christmas cuteness, dedicated to cinnamon-ghoul, honest!, late secret santa, mink in a dressing gown and slippers is so comfy, sly wants buns hun, so sorry but I hope this at least makes up for some of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 03:56:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3104669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuroiSei/pseuds/KuroiSei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mink doesn't usually get woken up in the middle of the night. Then again, people don't usually get tangled in Christmas lights and tinsel and scream the house down. Mink and Sly are an odd pair, but they get along. Somehow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Visitor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cinnamon-ghoul](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=cinnamon-ghoul).



> Dedicated to cinnamon-ghoul! I'm sorry this is so late - I've been both ill and busy so all my time just went out of the window lately... I owe you one more fic now as an apology, so feel free to redeem that anytime! I really do owe you one for your patience, and I hope this makes up for it somehow. ^ o ^

Mink wasn’t used to being woken up in the middle of the night, and being woken up by loud incoherent cursing coming from the living room was most certainly not within his sphere of human experiences. He had woken up instantly to an empty bed, an empty space where Aoba had been sleeping in his arms just minutes before, and now he himself felt like swearing in ragged, sleepy breaths.

It was Christmas Eve, and the two had planned on getting plenty of sleep before what would no doubt be one of their most hectic days of the year. Sure, Mink would be off work, but Aoba’s friends had planned to visit, and judging from their previous gatherings Mink knew full well what that would be likely to entail. Red and that computer kid (What was his name? Sound?) were bound to burst into some sort of intense argument more befitting of two kids in a playground than two fully grown men, and the questionable cheerfulness of Gas-mask would probably creep the whole group out to no end. Sure, he seemed sweet, but that freaky mask of his could hide just about anything. Maybe there was a reason why he seemed just... Too happy? Aoba’s friend Mizuki had just about healed up, and though he seemed pleasant enough the prospect of being scrutinised by a near stranger seemed a little daunting. Eeh. People didn’t usually react to him well, what with his lack of smile and overbearing figure, and that tended to chuck a spanner in the works, especially when it came to group conversations and meeting new people. Aoba was always so good at socialising. He’d probably help out somehow.

But Mink had been disturbed mid-sleep, and was now faced with the unpleasant task of seeing where the sounds were coming from. He slowly leaned upwards and got up, throwing on an old dressing gown and slippers and gradually making his way to the lounge. The loud swearing hadn’t stopped, and had Mink been blind he predicted that he would have had no harder a time finding his way to the source of the profanities, since it was so considerably loud that it felt like the sound waves themselves were guiding him towards it. He flicked the lights on in the room, making his way towards the writhing figure on the floor.

“Aoba?”

The lump of tinsel and tree looked up, and Mink met a pair of eyes that were far brighter than Aoba’s usual colour. Could it be?

“Wait... You’re the other Aoba, aren’t you?”

“You’re really asking me that, you fucking brute? Honestly, I’m not that hard to recognise, even if you are old as fuck.”

Mink was inclined to laugh, but lacked the energy. Really, the other Aoba looked a mess. He’d become trapped under the Christmas tree somehow, leaving him tangled in the fairy lights and tinsel that had been arranged carefully mere days before by Aoba’s deft and careful hands. Compared to the neat and organised Aoba, this guy on the floor was practically a stranger to him.

“Want me to help you up?”

“Want you to... Of course I fucking want you to help me up! Why do you think I’ve been asking you for help for the past half an hour?”

_He calls that asking. It was more like a garble of profanities and the odd mention of my name once or twice, but I guess that’s just his way of asking._

“Sure, sure. Let me get this.”

He slowly lifted the Christmas tree up and began to untangle the wires that had left the other Aoba practically in knots on the floor.

“So how did this happen, anyway? Getting this tangled isn’t easy, you know.”

The other Aoba sighed, drawing in a deep breath.

“I woke up and wanted to go for a walk to stretch my legs a bit. Didn’t turn out exactly as planned, and as soon as I got into the living room I tripped up and...” he gestured towards himself “...Voila.”

“Well maybe you should’ve thought to turn the light on, dumbass.”

“Didn’t wanna wake the beast.”

“The beast?”

“Yeah. Thought a sleep-deprived ape like you would be fucking terrifying in the middle of the night. Guess I had no reason to worry though. You look even softer than usual.”

“Do I really?”

Mink fiddled with the knots binding Sly, slowly examining them and undoing them like an old woman leaning over her knitting.

“I don’t really know what to say about that.”

“Take it as a compliment, Grandpa. You seem a lot more pleasant than you used to. Aoba probably likes that part of you quite a lot. I say probably, but I know for sure. We do share a mind, you know.”

“That must be pretty strange for the both of you.”

“It’s worse for me than him, trust me. Do you know what it’s like? It’s like you’re in your own brain, but someone else is taking the controls on your body. But it’s their body too so you can’t really do jackshit about it. I switch off if I can, but honestly sometimes that kid is so over the top and horny that you can’t ignore it. I have seen things. Too many things. Ew. What are you, rabbits? Ever heard of, I dunno, not fucking all the time?”

Mink froze mid-untangling and looked the other Aoba straight in the eye.

“So you see that too, huh?”

“A-ha.”

“I see.”

...

“Want a cup of coffee?”

The other Aoba was untangled by now, and was stretched out on the sofa, nursing the marks that the tangled wires had left on his arms.

“Sure, big guy. Tall and dark with extra buns.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re joking but Aoba made a pretty large batch of cinnamon buns yesterday. Feel free to help yourself.”

“Nah, I’m not really one for sweet things. Only sweet thing I’ll eat is Grandma’s donuts. They’re like fucking heavenly nuggets of goodness.”

“You know Tae’s coming over tomorrow, right? You might be able to have some then.”

“Nah, pretty sure airport security has rules against that. But it’s cool anyways.”

...

“How often do you take over Aoba’s body like this?”

By now the two of them were sharing the sofa, with Mink sinking into it slightly and the other Aoba trying to take up as much space as was humanly possible. They both nursed coffee mugs in their hands, and the space around the sofa was a mess of fallen decorations, fir leaves and snaking lengths of flashy tinsel.

“Not often. I’ve learned not to be too greedy, and Aoba’s got a pretty busy life now, so I don’t take it unless I really need to get up and stretch. I take a lot of midnight walks.”

_Ah. That explained the times when Aoba woke up with his snow boots on but no recollection of having even opened his eyes all night. And the trails of slushy water by the door in the hallway. It explained a lot, actually._

“That’s got to be pretty lonely, though, right?”

“Nah. I have the bird. Ren comes out sometimes too. They’re surprisingly good company when you’ve had noone to talk to for a while.”

“You can always wake me up, you know. We’re not strangers.”

The other Aoba looked at him in surprise, as if it hadn’t hit him yet that Mink could be anything more than a creepy big guy who fucked the other person in his mind from time to time. It was the most innocent he had ever looked, Mink had thought. And surprise suited him far better than that smirk ever would. The other Aoba sloshed his coffee around in his mug, deep in thought.

“Maybe I will, big guy. Maybe I will.”

...

“We’d better clean this mess up, huh, big guy.”

The other Aoba gestured towards the heap of decorations on the floor, depositing his coffee mug on the side of the closest coffee table with a slight thud.

“I guess so.”

Mink whistled for Rurakhan, calling him out of sleep mode to set him to work returning the smaller decorations to the trees.

“Sup, bird.”

Tori bowed politely, turning to face him from the top of the fir tree.

“It’s been a while.”

“Hasn’t it just.”

The other Aoba was collecting all of the stray baubles on the floor, handing them to Tori and making light conversation about the weather and how Ren’s little body was faring with the deep snow. It all seemed so alien to Mink, the thought that this was the very same guy that had threatened and terrified him not two years ago, and the surreal idea that they got along better than he had previously thought was beginning to take shape in his mind. Maybe they just both knew what it felt like to be trapped, to be imprisoned. Maybe they were just two scary guys that needed to take a break from being seen as monsters? Maybe that was all a bit too deep to explain it, and they had just... Clicked? Was that the word for it?

“Oi, grandpa! Snap out of it! We need help over here!”

“I’ll be right there.”

...

“And we’re done.”

“Fucking finally.”

“Agreed.”

The three of them, Mink, Tori and the other Aoba, were standing around the Christmas tree, admiring their handiwork.

“Hopefully Aoba won’t notice the disturbance.”

“I’m sure he won’t. He’s not very fussy.”

“Really? The guy’s fucking anal. It’s always ‘this goes here’ and ‘that goes there’ and all that shit. He’ll notice alright. You just gotta know what to say when he does.”

“Sure.”

The other Aoba looked at him, expectantly.

“Are you gonna tell him about tonight?”

“I don’t know. Maybe you should. He’ll probably want answers from you.”

“Nah. He hardly knows I exist anymore. It’s cool. Say what you want, big guy.”

Mink felt immeasurable pity for the other Aoba. His situation seemed awful, and yet he was still here and lively as ever. He wondered how he didn’t go insane, trapped inside Aoba’s (their) mind like that with so little breathing space. It was... Admirable. That was the word for it.

Tori landed on his shoulder, preening himself in some imaginary mirror.

“Mink. The current time is 2:30 AM. Your body needs to rest for tomorrow. You have a busy day ahead of you.”

“Time to go, huh?”

“Yeah. Time flies, doesn’t it?”

“This... This has been nice.”

“I’ve enjoyed it too, even if you did wake me up in the middle of the night.”

“Thanks.”

“And to you too.”

“I’ll retreat out back for tomorrow. No doubt you’ll want Christmas with Aoba tomorrow and not some weirdo who wakes you up in the middle of the night, right?”

“I didn’t say that. You have the right to be selfish too, you know.”

“I guess.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, big guy.”

...

Aoba yawned, stretching out his arms and kissing Mink on the forehead.

“Oi. It’s unlike you to sleep in so late. Look! It’s already nine-thirty.”

Mink slowly opened his eyes.

“Aoba?”

“Who else would it be?”

Mink froze for a second. Maybe Aoba was a lot more oblivious of his other self than he had previously thought. No wonder it was so hard for the other Aoba to get a word in edgeways. But never mind that. They had a busy day to prepare for, and sitting in bed feeling sorry for someone would be the worst possible thing to do on this occasion.

“C’mon, sleepyhead! I’ve got presents for you! Not to mention we have a dinner to cook, and guests to take care of, and family staying over, and... ”

Mink smiled, stretched and got up, placing the very same slippers on his feet and the very same dressing gown on his back. He reached out to hug Aoba from behind, drinking in his scent and holding him close.

”Let’s get coffee. We’re gonna need a lot of caffeine for a busy day like this.”

“Agreed.”


End file.
